Smart & Connected Life > iPods & MP3 Players How to Reset the iPod Touch Without Losing Your Music Safely restart your iPod Touch by performing a soft reset By Mark Harris Mark Harris Writer University of Wolverhampton Mark Harris is a former writer for Lifewire who wrote about the digital music scene and streaming music services in an easy to understand, no-nonsense manner. lifewire's editorial guidelines Updated on June 29, 2022 iPods & MP3 Players Eco Tech Electric Vehicles Working From Home Headphones & Ear Buds Smart Home Smart Watches & Wearables Travel Tech Connected Car Tech iPods & MP3 Players Trending Videos Close this video player What to Know Press and hold the Sleep/Wake and Home buttons at the same time for at least 10 seconds. Release the buttons when the Apple logo appears. If the device doesn't power up, ensure that it's charged.Resetting is different from completely restoring the iPod Touch to factory settings, which deletes purchases. This article explains how to perform a soft reset on your iPod Touch to reboot the device without affecting your media, including songs, audiobooks, podcasts, and more. Perform a Soft Reset on Your iPod Touch To force a reset on the iPod Touch after a freeze or other problem: Press and hold the Sleep/Wake and Home buttons at the same time. Hold the buttons for about 10 seconds. If the iPod Touch is on, it will switch off and then restart. Release the buttons when the Apple logo appears. The iPod Touch operating system reboots, and the Slide to Unlock message displays after a short while. This method ensures that you don't have to start all over again and restore the iPod Touch from a backup or resync all your data. If Your iPod Doesn't Power Up If the device doesn't power up, ensure that the iPod Touch has enough power in its batteries. In this situation, you may only need to recharge the iPod to start using it again. If the device won't turn on, work through the following steps: Use the cable that came with the Apple device and plug the iPod Touch into a spare USB port on a computer. Use a power adapter if you prefer to charge from an outlet. Wait up to 5 minutes until the Battery icon appears. If there is a longer delay before the Battery icon appears, the device's battery is very low on power. It'll need a longer charge in this case. If the Battery icon doesn't display after 5 minutes, use recovery mode, which wipes everything on the device and restores it to the factory defaults, so this should be your last option. Restore the device from a recent backup of your iTunes library after you successfully boot it in recovery mode. Why Reset Your iPod Touch? Most of the time, the iPod Touch operates without any problems. However, just like any portable device, it can unexpectedly freeze or not power up. It's often an unstable app or corrupt file that causes the device to crash and get stuck, but what do you do if you lose the ability to listen to your digital music library? One of the first things to try is a soft reset. Rather than completely restoring the iPod Touch, which deletes your iTunes Store purchases, a soft reset forces the device to reboot its operating system — iOS in this case. This process is non-destructive and ensures that you regain control of your iPod without the risk of losing music and other media. Was this page helpful? Thanks for letting us know! Get the Latest Tech News Delivered Every Day Subscribe Tell us why! Other Not enough details Hard to understand Submit